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N. JONES.

SHOE LAST.

No. 36,495. Patented Sep t. 16, 1862.

NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE;

NATHANIEL JONES, OF HOMER, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO L. I. MABIE, A. J. MANLEY, AND R. H. MORRIS, OF NEWV YORK, N. Y.

SHOE.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 36,495, dated September 16, 1862.

i To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, NATHANIEL JONES, of Homer, in the county of Cortland and State of New York, have invented, made, and applied to use a certain new and useful Improvement in Shoes; and I do hereby cleclare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of my said invention, reference being had to the annexed drawing, making part of this specification, wherein Figure 1, is a side view of my shoe. Fig. 2, is a plan of my improved last. Fig. 3, is the pattern for the uppers to be cut by, and Fig. 4, is a side View of the last on which my shoe is made.

In the manufacture of shoes it is usual to form the bottom of the last so that a straight line would touch the bottom of the heel, and

the sole of the foot part, and the toe end of the last but little raised abovea projection of the line, while the last at the back of the heel is almost at right angles to such a line; the consequence is that in walking the person wearing such shoes finds that the heel is apt to slip up and down in the shoe and the shoe itself to wrinkle over the front of the foot and at the side of the ankle, this arises from the fact that a line measured around the lower edge of the last from the corner at the toe to the center at the back of the heel is less than a line measured from the same point of the toe to the back part of the last near the top thereof; hence the foot itself being larger around the lower portion than across over the foot to the back of the heel, the shoe measures the most in the wrong place and only becomes comfortable when the wrinkling of the front thereof has lessened the length at the point specified suflicient to make the shoe hold on easily, and that without any motion of the heel inside the shoe as the person walks.

The nature of my said invention consists in so forming the last and cutting the uppers that the measurement from the point of the toe to the center at the back, shall be as small or smaller than the measurement at the lower part of the last, which is effected by raising the toe of the last, and drawing in the upper part of the last at the back above the heel; by this manner of forming the last and the shoe on the same, the shoe takes a bearing on the upper part and sides of the foot sufiicient to prevent motion of the heel in the shoe, and the sole being made nearly in the form it would assume after wear, there are no wrinkles or looseness in the uppers and this is effected as will hereafter be evident without regard to the height of instep and without pressure on the upper sides of the toes.

I will proceed to describe my improved last and the principle on which it is shaped, reference being had to Figs. 2 and 4, and from this description, the pecularity of shape given to the shoe, will be more fully apparent. a is the main section of the last. 6, is the usual front or instep piece; 0, is a heel section formed by sawing off the back part of the last diagonally from near the junction of the sole with the back of the last. These sections are held together by dowels and a screw 1.

By reference to the red lines the peculiar shape of this last will be apparent. The toe of the last is elevated higher from the base line 2 than usual, and the back of the heel at the upper part 3, is thrown forward.

"A line 4, drawn across the last from the corner of the toe 5, to this point 3, will be as short or slightly shorter than a line 6, around the base of the last from this point 5, to the center of the heel at the junction with the sole at 7, while the lasts heretofore made the line 4, would be the longest. The patterns for the uppers are cut with reference to this peculiarity of last, and it will be apparent that the shoe can be made for a higher instep or more room allowed for the toes, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 4, without interfering with the mode of obtaining a correct draft of the heel and sides of the shoe as aforesaid. When the shoe formed on this last is completed, it assumes a shape adapted to the natural shape and position of the foot, so much so that if a moderately tight fit, it would stay on the foot without any lacing, and the heel would not move up and down in walking, because the leather sets closely to the sides of the foot at the line 4, causing the weight of the shoe to bear upon the foot at this line; the foot however is not tightly pressed upon at any point, for there is room for the toes and instep, and there is such an even bearing taken around the sides of the ball of the heel as to be far more comfortable than the shoes heretofore made, and the front of the shoe does not become wrinkled and a new shoe on this pattern is almost as easy and comfortable as an old one. By removing the heel section 0, of the last as Well as the instep section 1), before the main part a of the last is removed the said main last a Will come out much more easily.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is,

The sectional shoe last a, b, 0, formed in the manner specified with the measurement at the line 4, as short as the measurement 10 at the line 6, for the purposes as specified.

In Witness whereof I have hereunto set my signature this 27th day of May 1862.

NATHANIEL JONES.

Witnesses:

LEMUEL W. SERRELL, THOS GEO. HAROLD. 

